Toothbrush with removable attachment

ABSTRACT

A toothbrush is proposed which has a removable attachment comprising a body with a longitudinal slot and, arranged in the longitudinal slot, a removable attachment having clumps of brush bristles fastened therein. The body is in the form of a flat elongated piece and includes two parts: a main part with a central longitudinal opening and a locking part, which is inserted into and is locked in the central longitudinal opening of the main part. The edges of the base of the removable attachment are slanted in the longitudinal direction at an acute angle. Moreover, on the transverse vertical wall of the slot which is outermost from the centre of the toothbrush there is a projection and on the transverse vertical wall of the removable attachment there is a recess which corresponds to the projection of the slot. Furthermore, in the removable attachment there is a longitudinal opening into which the end part of the locking part of the body is inserted.

The proposed technical solution relates to sanitary and hygienic necessities, and more particularly to toothbrushes.

A toothbrush is known, see RF patent No. 2039487 dated 20 Jul. 1995. This brush contains a handle, a neck, a head with a hole for a brush head—a replaceable bristle carrier and a device for its attachment. In addition, the device for attaching the bristle carrier consists of an additional handle, a neck and a head with a groove and/or a hole for accommodating the bristle carrier, connected to the main handle, neck and head, while the bristle of a replaceable bristle carrier is located in the hole of the main head. The disadvantage of this solution is the low reliability and hygiene, because. the connecting elements of the handle and additional handle wear out quickly, while bacteria accumulate in the cavity between them.

The closest technical solution is a toothbrush, see RF patent No. 2334445 dated 27 Sep. 2008. This toothbrush contains a handle, a head and a removable nozzle connected hereto —a block with side retaining protrusions. The block contains upper and lower surfaces and a lot of holes located between these surfaces. Bundles of bristle fibers are passed through the holes, and the lower ends of the fibers are melted to form a bristle coating covering at least partially the lower surface. The lower surface of the block is located at a distance from the head and a cavity is formed between the block and the head. The block is made of hard and soft plastic materials with the possibility of partial elastic deformation towards the head to take a spatial shape different from the plane when used for its intended purpose. The disadvantage of this solution is the difficulty of extracting the block and low reliability of fastening, as over time, due to the frequent removal of the block, the detachable connection wears out.

The proposed solution eliminates the above disadvantages.

Technical result consists in simplifying extraction and increased reliability of fixation of the removable nozzle in the handle of the toothbrush.

Technical result is achieved due to that the toothbrush with a removable nozzle contains a body with a longitudinal groove, and a removable nozzle with bundles of bristle fibers fixed herein are placed in the longitudinal groove. In addition, the body is made in the form of a flat elongated body and includes two parts: the main part with a central longitudinal hole and a locking part that enters and is fixed in the central longitudinal hole of the main part. The edges of the base of the removable nozzle are longitudinally beveled. In addition, a protrusion is made on the transverse vertical wall of the groove, which is farthest from the center of the toothbrush, in the central part, and a recess corresponding to the protrusion of the groove is made on the transverse vertical wall of the removable nozzle. Also, a longitudinal hole is made in the removable nozzle, where enters the end part of the locking part of the body.

The body is made in the form of a long and narrow parallelepiped of a small height, in which the extreme small vertical faces are a semicircle in cross section.

At that, above the beveled base of the removable nozzle closest to the center of the toothbrush, there is a platform free from bundles of bristle fibers.

The lower corners of the base walls of the removable nozzle can be rounded (rounding diameter is from 1 to 1.4 mm, beyond this value there will be an intersection with the hole). This rounding parameter was identified during the study with subsequent tests, which showed that the uniform rounding of the lower corners with this parameter allows one to easily remove the replaceable base with bristles from the handle. Or the edges of the removable nozzle base may be longitudinally beveled at an acute angle.

The junction of the main part and the locking part, which is fixed in the main part of the body, can be made beveled at an acute angle.

Also, the locking part includes a protrusion, and the main part includes a recess corresponding to the protrusion of the locking part, while in the locking part, closer to the protrusion, a longitudinal slot is made for elastic connection and fixation in each other of the said protrusion and recess.

The proposed solution is illustrated by the following figures:

FIG. 1 —general left side view of the removable head of the proposed toothbrush;

FIG. 2 —side view of a removable head of a proposed toothbrush;

FIG. 3 —general view on the right of a removable nozzle of the proposed toothbrush;

FIG. 4 —general view of the main body part with a longitudinal groove;

FIG. 5 —end view of the main body part with a longitudinal groove;

FIG. 6 —general view of the locking part of the body;

FIG. 7 —general view of the main and locking parts of the body;

FIG. 8 —general view of the toothbrush assembled.

The figures show the following positions:

-   -   1—holes for bundles of bristles (bundles of bristles are not         shown in the figures);     -   2—recess of the removable nozzle, made on the transverse         vertical wall;     -   3—beveled extreme part of the removable nozzle base;     -   4—longitudinal hole of the removable nozzle, made on the         transverse vertical wall closest to the center of the         toothbrush;     -   5—protrusion made on the transverse vertical wall of the groove,         extreme from the center of the toothbrush;     -   6—central longitudinal hole of the body main part;     -   7—end part of the body locking part, which is included in the         longitudinal hole of the removable nozzle;     -   8—longitudinal slot of the body locking part;     -   9—protrusion of the locking part;     -   10—recess of the main part, corresponding to the protrusion of         the locking part.

The essence of the proposed toothbrush.

The proposed toothbrush with a removable nozzle contains: a toothbrush body consisting of the main and locking parts, see FIG. 7 , made in the form of a flat elongated body, the ends of which in a horizontal section are a semicircle, i.e. in its shape it is a long and narrow parallelepiped with a small height, the extreme small vertical faces of which are a semicircle in cross section. In addition, in one end part of the toothbrush body, a closed longitudinal slot is made, see FIG. 4 , in its shape repeating the toothbrush body of much shorter length, i.e. this is a rectangular groove, the extreme small sides of which are semicircles—a key slot. In principle, the groove itself can be of a different shape, for example, just rectangular. In the above groove, on its transverse vertical wall closest to the brush, in the central part, a protrusion 5 is made. This protrusion 5 serves to hold the removable nozzle, see FIG. 1-3 , installed in a closed longitudinal groove and corresponds to recess 2, made on the transverse vertical (end) wall of the removable nozzle.

The removable nozzle is shown in FIG. 1-3 , and is a body, the lower part of which corresponds in its shape to a closed longitudinal groove (key slot) of the toothbrush body, wherein it is actually inserted, i.e. in fact, this is a parallelepiped with a flat base, wherein the extreme parts 3 are beveled at an acute angle or rounded, and the upper part is bundles of bristle fibers protruding above the toothbrush body (not shown in the figures), which are inserted into the holes 1, and which are fixed in a removable nozzle in any known manner. At that, on the transverse vertical (end) wall of the removable nozzle located opposite the wall with a recess 2, a closed hole 4 is made (it may not wherein the end part of the locking part of the body 7 is inserted and fixes a removable nozzle.

In addition, for quick and convenient removal of the removable nozzle from the toothbrush body (when the locking part of the body 7 is removed), the base of the removable nozzle should be beveled at an acute angle (or along the radius, FIG. 2 ) from the extreme side of the removable nozzle, closer to the center of the toothbrush body. brushes, and this angle is about 6-12° to the toothbrush base. Above this beveled base 3 should preferably be a flat area, see FIG. 1,3 , when pressed, the removable nozzle is removed. For easy extraction of the removable nozzle, the opposite side of the beveled base (closest to the end of the toothbrush body) should also be beveled, see FIG. 2 .

The locking part of the body, see FIG. 6,7 , is inserted into the central longitudinal hole 6 of the body main part, see FIG. 4,7 , where it is securely fixed. In this case, fixation can be carried out both with a tight fit and with the help of fixation means 8-10. So, for example, as shown in FIG. 7 , the junction of the main body part and the locking part is made beveled at an angle and includes a recess 10 on the main body part, and a protrusion 9 in the locking part corresponding to the recess 10. The protrusion 9 enters the recess 10 and is fixed in it when the locking part of the body is inserted into the central longitudinal hole 6 of the main body part. At that, to reduce wear of the protrusion 9 of the locking part, a longitudinal groove 8 is made in it, due to which the walls of the locking part are bent inward and the protrusion 9 easily enters the recess 10 of the main part.

The body of the toothbrush can be molded from hard antibacterial plastic, and the removable head—from flexible antibacterial plastic, or vice versa.

The proposed nozzle is removed in the following way. The user removes the locking part of the body from the main part, as a result of which the protrusion 9 goes inside the locking part of the body formed by the slot 8 and exits the recess 10 of the main part. Then the user presses his/her finger on the platform, due to which the beveled side 3 of the nozzle moves to the base of the groove of the main part of the toothbrush body. After that, the user only needs to remove the nozzle from the protrusion 5 of the main part of the toothbrush body and remove it. The removable head to the toothbrush body is attached in the reverse order:

-   -   the user aligns the end recess of the removable nozzle 2 with         the protrusion 5, made in the transverse vertical wall closest         to the edge of the brush, in the central part, and     -   inserts the nozzle into the longitudinal groove of the body         (more precisely, into the longitudinal groove of the body main         part),     -   then takes the locking part of the body and inserts it into the         longitudinal hole of the main part of the body 6, in which the         nozzle is fixed, by entering the end part of the body locking         part 7 into the longitudinal hole of the removable nozzle 4, and         the locking part of the body is fixed in the main part by means         of the entry of the protrusion 9 inside the locking part of the         body formed by the slot 8 and further straightening of the         locking part when the protrusion 9 enters the recess 10 of the         main part.

The proposed toothbrush is reliable and easy to use. Thanks to the replaceable heads, this toothbrush lasts longer. Also, the user can use nozzles with bristles of different rigidity and different shapes. An important factor is that this technology can significantly reduce the level of consumed plastic, since not the entire product is recycled, but only replaceable nozzle. 

I claim:
 1. A toothbrush with a removable nozzle, containing a body with a longitudinal groove, and placed in the longitudinal groove, a removable nozzle with bundles of bristle fibers fixed in it, characterized in that the body is made in the form of a flat elongated body and includes two parts: the main part with a central longitudinal hole and a locking part that enters and is fixed in the central longitudinal hole of the main part, the edges of the base of the removable nozzle are longitudinally beveled, in addition, a protrusion is made on the transverse vertical wall of the groove, which is extreme from the center of the toothbrush, in the central part, and on the transverse vertical wall of the removable nozzle there is made a recess corresponding to the protrusion of the groove, while the removable nozzle has a longitudinal hole into which the end part of the locking part of the body enters.
 2. The toothbrush according to claim 1 characterized in that the body is made in the form of a long and narrow parallelepiped with a small height, in which the extreme vertical faces are a semicircle in cross section.
 3. The toothbrush according to claim 1, characterized in that above the beveled base of the removable nozzle closest to the center of the toothbrush there is a platform free from bundles of bristle fibers.
 4. The toothbrush according to claim 1, characterized in that the edges of the base of the removable nozzle are longitudinally beveled at an acute angle or along a radius.
 5. The toothbrush according to claim 1, characterized in that the junction of the main part and the locking part, which is fixed in the main body part, is made beveled at an acute angle.
 6. The toothbrush according to claims 1, 4, characterized in that the locking part includes a protrusion, and the main part includes a recess corresponding to the protrusion of the locking part, while in the lock part, closer to the protrusion, a longitudinal groove is made for elastic connection and fixation in each other of said protrusion and said recess. 